Analysis of 'Japanese Castles' Visited by Foreign Tourists in Japan

The NAVITIME Data Analysis Team at NAVITIME Japan Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Keisuke Onishi, Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo) announces the results of an analysis of popular "Japanese Castles" visited by foreign tourists throughout the year 2025, based on the usage status of the navigation app "Japan Travel by NAVITIME" designed for inbound tourists. Japanese castles garner high interest from foreign tourists visiting Japan. In the "Destination Search Ranking TOP 30 for Inbound Tourists" published annually by NAVITIME Japan, castles consistently rank high as popular destinations. This time, based on usage data from the navigation app for foreign tourists provided by NAVITIME Japan, we analyzed the stay status of travelers at "Japanese Castles." - Analysis of the number of stays at "Japanese Castles" by foreign tourists from January 2025 to December 2025 - Popularity ranking in the Asian and Western/Oceanian markets, stay time analysis, and analysis of castles with trends specific to each market Target of Analysis: Compiled using inbound GPS data and attribute questionnaires obtained with consent from the navigation app for foreign tourists ("Japan Travel by NAVITIME") provided by NAVITIME Japan. * The definition of "stay" is a state where positioning is confirmed continuously for 30 minutes or more within an area (polygon) on the map that demarcates the castle, independently investigated by NAVITIME Japan referring to the Japan Castle Foundation's "Top 100 Castles of Japan." * In this analysis, the Asian market mainly targets Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, etc., and the Western/Oceanian market mainly targets the United States, Australia, France, etc. ## Analysis Results Top 10 Popular Japanese Castles for Foreign Tourists by Market (Asia, West/Oceania) In both the Asian and Western/Oceanian markets, the most popular castle was Osaka Castle. Nagoya Castle, Kumamoto Castle, Nijo Castle, Himeji Castle, and Edo Castle also commonly ranked in the top 10 for both markets. As a trend specific to the Asian market, Hirosaki Castle, Inuyama Castle, Okayama Castle, and Matsuyama Castle, which are relatively easy to access from regional airports with direct flights, ranked high. As a trend specific to the Western/Oceanian market, Kanazawa Castle, Hiroshima Castle, Matsumoto Castle, and Odawara Castle ranked high. This is believed to be backed by good accessibility from the "Golden Route" and the "Three-Star Road" (a wide-area sightseeing route visiting famous spots that received three stars in the Michelin Green Guide, such as Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, and Matsumoto). Comparing stay times, we confirmed a correlation between stay time and castle area in both Asian and Western/Oceanian markets. Generally, castles with larger areas...